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Thursday, November 20, 2008

"Fight Like a Canadian"

It’s time for a little shameless plugging...and maybe I can slip in a little history lesson too.

This weekend I had the chance to attend an unarmed combat seminar held by Robbie Cressman of Canadian Use of Force Systems. The combative training I received was excellent. Easily learned(and recalled), highly effective, and job specific. Needless to say, those of us who attended the seminar were highly impressed with the system.

Canadian Use of Force Systems teaches to a wide range of people, ranging from citizens interested in self-protection, to elite soldiers around the world, and everything in between. The breadth of professionals around the world using the system is truly impressive, even more so considering that this system is home grown here in Canada.

Canada’s “only martial art” originated with the fascinating Bill Underwood many decades ago and manifested itself under the names of COMBATO and DEFENDO. Since WWII, Canadians, and many others, have been using this highly effective system of combatives.

Certainly it would be a most un-Canadian activity to celebrate the fact that one of the world’s most effective and brutal combative systems originated in Canada. This may help explain why so few Canadians know of Bill Underwood. For this Canadian, however, it is a point of pride to note that a Canadian combatives system armed WWII Commandos and spies, many generations of law enforcement officers, and CF members currently in Afghanistan.

For an excellent history of the intriguing Bill Underwood, and a more thorough look at the modern manifestation of his fighting system, visit Canadian Use of Force Systems.